Drowning out the Echoes
by Winter's Melody
Summary: From the moment Natsume and Mikan met in an orphanage they knew they would be together forever. When Natsume is adopted, Mikan's life ends. Years later they meet again, but can Mikan forgive him for leaving? And her new school holds a sinister secret...
1. Drowning out the Echoes

I do not own Gakuen Alice, never will...probably :)

My newest story, hope you like it! Don't forget to give plenty reviews- they will go to a good cause (inflating my ego :P)

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**A Part of my World**

** Chapter 1**

**Drowning out the echoes**

Even though the orphanage had over a hundred kids, there was never anyone but Natsume to me. It was like I was living life seeing everything in black and white and shades of grey, yet I saw him in such vibrant colours, I never wanted to look away. I remember the first time I met him. We were six years old. The whole world felt black to me, I didn't know where mummy had gone, one moment she was there, crows feet around her eyes and the biggest smile on her face, the next she wasn't, she was gone.

The adults put me in a small room, it smelt like feet and there were lots of broken toys, picture books with half the pages missing, soft toys with stuffing bulging out of tears and rips. It was silent, and I felt that no matter what, I couldn't disturb that silence. All of a sudden my breathing seemed so loud, too deep, so I stopped breathing. The walls started closing in, I had a sick feeling in my stomach and my vision was starting to go black around the edges, everything was fading out to gray scale. Then all of a sudden there was a knock on the door and there he was, being pushed in by another adult.

I watched him, saw his dark hair that was the same colour as a crow feather I had once found on the road. His eyes were bright red, like mummy's necklace. As I watched him, I found it easier to breath, the world came back into focus again and the sick feeling in my stomach disappeared. I smiled at him, tears of happiness in my eyes. All of a sudden everything became clear. He was the colour in my life, he made me happy, so I would do my best to make _him_ happy. My heart felt light as, slowly, he smiled back at me.

From that moment we were inseparable, well, almost, it's not as if we went to toilet together or slept together. Nobody else existed in our world, a world where we could do anything. Although some people tried, we never let anybody into our world, although our world was infinitely big, there was only ever enough space for the two of us, any more and our world would collapse from the extra weight. I remember thinking that we would be together forever, because nobody else existed.

"Ne, Natsume, let's stay together for ever and ever!"

"Of course we will."

"Promise"

"Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye"

"YAY! Natsume promised, now we'll be together forever!"

Of course, I never thought that maybe things don't always go as planned. We were meant to be together until the end, but as children living in an orphanage, we were like leaves in a rapid stream, we had no control over our future, we had to go where the current led us. One time when I woke up, he just wasn't there anymore, he just disappeared. The adults all said that he was with a family now, and that I should be happy for him instead of acting so sad. But how could I be happy? My world hadn't exploded or anything, it was still there, but he wasn't. I was all alone in a world with me and memories of him.

For some reason, the memories took up far more space that he ever did. I could see myself sitting in that room again, not breathing in case it disturbed the silence, but this time, it was different. Because inside I was screaming as hard as I could, trying to drown out the shouting of all those memories. I thought that if I screamed loud enough then my world could burst and I would finally be free from that noise pounding in my head. Because life would be so much easier without all those memories haunting me. And although it didn't work for many years, eventually I managed it, to drown out the echoes of all the things we did together. But the colours were never as vivid with him gone, and although I tried to forget, I still had a gaping hole in my heart. But I was fine with that, I could live with what heart I had left, however little that might be. Because, without him, what use would a heart be?

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Good, bad, too emotional, too boring, brilliant etc...**_REVIEW_**


	2. Adoption

I do not own Gakuen Alice, only Higuchi Tachibana does.

**Thank to all of the support I have recieved from my reviewers:**

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**And thank you to all the people who, although too lazy to review, added my story to story alert, fave story's, etc. **

No, Natsume is not in this chapter, nor is he in the next one :( maybe the one after though

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**A Part of my World**

**Chapter 2**

**Adoption**

The teacher grabbed Mikan's thin wrist and slapped it in frustration. "Why, Mikan, must you always do this? Whenever someone comes who is interested in adopting you always dress like...like trash!"

Mikan sat in the corner of the room. She wore a navy blue hoody and torn jeans, leaving her teased hair loose, some strands covering the heavy makeup she had specially applied. She looked at the carer with her earthy coloured eyes, outlined in black. "But Mrs, I dress like this because I want to make a good impression." Mikan said these words with such conviction and honesty, that if her claim wasn't so utterly ridiculous, you would have believed her. The teacher gave an exasperated sigh, all of the staff had agreed that Mikan was a lost cause, ever since that day. They had tried to talk reason, tried to tell her that being adopted wasn't such a bad thing, but she never listened. Mikan didn't understand why, but for some reason the idea of leaving the place that had been her home since she was four made her feel sick.

"Mikan, please, at least try a little, this person seems very interested." For a moment Mikan felt slightly guilty. She had been living in this place for 11 years now, without ever giving anything to the orphanage in return. But it wasn't as if she wanted to stay, there was just something holding her back. Mikan sighed and gave a slight nod, she would _try._

The carer smiled, slightly amazed, before smiling and leaving the room to fetch the prospective adoptive parent. Mikan sat in silence thinking about her situation. She had been freeloading off a non profit organisation for 11 years, that probably wasn't good. Her hand tightened around the locket hanging off her neck. She had to be more independant, she had to stand on her own feet, even if it meant giving up the place where she had been most happy. She released the locket, leaving an imprint of a sakura tree on her hand. She watched apprehensively as the door slowly opened, if this person offered to adopt her, she had to say yes. And besides, they had to be alright, it's not as if the orphanage would just let any old weirdo adopt children. How wrong she was.

Mikan's first impression was that the woman being led in was a beautiful lady. Her blond hair gently curled down, coming to a stop resting on her shoulders. Her eyes were an indigo blue, like the night sea and she wore a sweet smile on her face. She wore a simple white shirt, with soft blue ruffled edges, and dark blue skinny jeans, which made her legs look long and slim. Mikan was amazed her beauty and grace, but there was something odd about the atmosphere, this person was different to others. And then Mikan realized it and her eyes widened in horror. No way. The beautiful woman was a man, a cross dressing man.

No way was Mikan going with this gay freak, even if she had promised. And at the time of the promise she was sure that people like him wouldn't even be allowed in the orphanage.

"Hello, Mikan, I've been looking forward to this day for a long time now-"

"Don't come near me, you gay cross dresser!"

"Now, now, Mikan, being homophobic at such a young age is not a good thing. And I'm not a gay cross dresser; I merely prefer to wear more feminine clothes." Mikan's eye twitched.

"Now as I was saying, Mikan, I have been looking forward to seeing you again, last time I saw you, you were a baby." This declaration puzzled Mikan.

"What are you, some sort of long-term stalker?"

"Ummm, no. I don't think I explained clearly enough, I was a friend of your parents before...the accident."

Mikan's eyes widened, her parents? But nobody knew who her parents were! She was found wandering the streets and was brought into the orphanage, everybody just assumed that her parents had left her. Even Mikan didn't remember anything about them.

"Prove it," Mikan said, "see, you can't, no one can."

"But you didn't give me time! I can prove it with this." The man said, taking out a pendant on a golden chain. Mikan's breath caught as she saw the pendant. A red sphere in a net of fine gold. The sphere was the colour of Natsume's eyes, the exact shade.

_His eyes were bright red, like mummy's necklace. _Mikan suddenly remembered thinking that when she first saw Natsume. Then she remembered something else.

_A small girl, her eyes following the shimmering pendant swinging on a golden chain. She smiles and says "shinee, pwetty wrock" And then a silvery laugh, the laugh of her mother. _

Mikan blinked, shocked at this memory.

"Do you believe me now? Your mother's name was Yuka Yukihara. She died in a car crash eleven years ago, along with you father, Azumi Yukihara." Mikan was silent for a moment, shocked at the revelation that this man knew more about her than she did. "I attended the same school as your parents, and was good friends with them. It's because of this that I would like to adopt you. You see, I am a teacher at Alice Academy, so I can guarantee you a spot...." Mikan wasn't listening to him anymore. Her mother's laugh kept on echoing in her head. Mikan opened her moth and spoke.

"I accept, I'll go with you." The man was silent for a minute before clapping his hands in delight.

"Yay! Now me and Mikan-chan can live together and be great friend and even share clothes with each other-"

"Enough, stop talking, I still don't know your name."

"Oh, yes, my name is Narumi Anjo, but you can call me Naru-sensei, everybody does." Mikan slowly nodded, aware that with that nod, life as she knew it would end.

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tell me if it was good, bad and how to improve it!

And if you have time read my other story, Lost and Forgotten, I think I will update it tommorow...


	3. Alice Academy

Disclaimer: do not own Gakuen Alice.

Sorry for taking so long to update, because I felt bad, I made this chapter twice as long as normal! But seeing as my holidays just started, I should be much quicker now :D

Sorry, I know I said Natsume would be in this chapter, but he decided to take a couple of days off for his birthday (HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY, NATSUME)

But maybe next chapter, I won't say anything for sure though. Oh, and some characters may be OOC

**Thank you to all of the reviewers who made my day :D**

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And I would also like to thank all of the people who added my story to their favorites, or story alert etc.

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A Part of my World

Chapter 3

**Alice Academy**

Mikan hadn't been outside the orphanage since she was four years old, now she was fifteen. Everything made her jumpy, all the adults pushing and jostling on the sidewalk, all of the sleek looking cars whooshing past, the skyscrapers that literally seemed to scrape the sky. Tokyo was bigger, noisier, smellier and just plain different from the small orphanage where she had spent most of her life. Mikan had never seen so many adults in her life.

"It must be hard, seeing how much everything has changed." Narumi said kindly.

"Not really, I don't exactly remember much anyway. Well, actually, I don't remember anything." Mikan hesitated, staring at the ground "please, you knew my parents...please tell me." Narumi noticed that tears were welling up in her eyes. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder "Don't worry I will tell you, but not now, now's not the right time, 'kay?" Mikan blinked her tears away and for some reason forced a smile, as if Narumi were the one who needed comforting.

"Alright, later then. But, just because I'm letting you off so easily now, doesn't mean I like you or anything. You're still a gay cross dresser to me." Mikan expected him to give an idiotic reply, and was surprised when one didn't come. Maybe he _did _have more that half a brain...

"Don't worry, Mikan-chan! Soon we'll be as close as father and daughter, we can even share clothes!" Mikan took her previous thought back.

"I doubt that a normal father-daughter relationship involves sharing clothes."

"Never fear, my daughter, if you think that sharing clothes isn't father-daughterly enough, we can always paint each other's nails and do each other's makeup and..." Narumi stopped when he noticed Mikan's fingers twitching, as if they were already imagining winding themselves around his neck. But nonetheless, Mikan felt a little better after all of Narumi's blathering.

"Here we are! This is Alice Academy! Student population; in excess of 3000. It's a boarding school, so normally you would stay in the dorms, but since I'm your guardian, you can live with me in the teacher's accommodation."

"I'd rather live in the dorms."

"Huh, but if you live in the dorms you won't be able to live with me!" Mikan chose to ignore this comment.

The path that they were walking along was bordered by a dense forest, giving the pair shade as they walked. Mikan wasn't sure of the size of the school, but judging by how long they had been walking, it was much bigger than any place she had been before. But at last the forest seemed to be thinning, with more and more light reaching them. Mikan made an attempt at conversation.

"When do I start school?"

"Well, it's halfway through first term, so you'll be starting tomorrow!"

"What? That soon? But I don't have a uniform or anything. At least give me a week to settle in!"

"Now, now, Mikan, you shouldn't be so lazy. The sooner you start, the sooner you'll get used to the swing of things. And don't forget that I'm a teacher here, and anyway, you're uniform is already waiting! But as for your general presentation..." Narumi eyed her, "this school is rather strict about presentation, so we can't leave your hair like that, and we'll have to wash the makeup off your face."

Mikan sighed "It's alright, the only reason I dressed like this was so I wouldn't be adopted. Normally I don't really care, teasing my hair and putting on eye liner takes too long to do every day."

Narumi chuckled, "You really mustn't have wanted to be adopted, going to such extremes..."

"I guess...but it's gonna be a pain to untangle this" sighed Mikan, pointing at her teased hair.

"I know, I teased my hair once and never did it again, too painful." Narumi quickly changed the topic once he saw Mikan's expression "Well, here we are, this is the FU dormitory."

"Ermm, FU dormitory? Is that supposed to be an insult or something?"

"It stands for female's upper dormitory, you see, there are different ranks..." Narumi trailed off once he noticed that Mikan was no longer listening. Instead she was staring, awestruck, at the building before her. In a way it reminded her of a row of terrace houses, but much more modern. There were two levels, both coloured in greys and blues, soft to look at yet with a very striking effect. Around the building was a deck of polished red wood, on the second floor there were glass balconies, some with green potted plants, others with chairs to sit on in the shade of the extended roof. Both ends of the row of units curved away, out of Mikan's sight, making a giant circle.

"The arc that we're standing in front of is known as the Female's Upper Dormitory. It has a total of 50 units. The other side of the circle is the Male's Upper Dormitory, it also has 50 units. In the middle of the two buildings is a large courtyard. Each unit has, in addition to the bedroom, a living room, study, bathroom, 2 toilets, formal dining room and informal dining room."

"Wow, I get to live in that? So, how many people to a unit, five or something?"

"One."

"Oh, one...WHAT! So then, I'll live in one of _those_! No way! And didn't you say there are over 3000 students here? So it's impossible."

"Mikan, if these were that only dormitories, it would be 30 people to a unit, in fact, 30 people to a bed. These dormitories are only for the upper students."

"Upper students?"

"The students whose families can afford extra privileges. Only about 3% of students here are upper students. The rest are either triple star, double star, or single star students. Triple star students also pay the full price, but can't afford extra privileges. The double star and single star students are the scholarship students, with the double stars being the smarter ones. It's all very logical once you understand it."

"So then why am I an upper student? Do you get a discount because you're a teacher or something?"

Narumi shrugged "Not really, an anonymous benefactor has decided to pay your school fees. It's not such a big deal, just a rich person trying out philanthropy." Narumi waved to a blonde woman who was standing in front of the building.

"Mikan, this is Yamada-sensei. She'll be showing you around your unit today. Ask her if you have any questions."

"Huh? Are you going somewhere? Naru-sensei...?" Mikan watched his figure retreat before turning towards the woman fressed in a purple dress who was pointing at one of the units.

"Here we are, this is your unit! Don't worry about keys, you just need to look into the eyepiece and press your thumb to the sensor. It's the newest technology, donated from one of our past students." Mikan did as she was told and watched as the door swung open to reveal a tastefully done hallway with polished floorboards, crimson walls and feature lights. To the left was a well lit study and to the right was a formal dining room with a long table of polished wood. Down the hall was a bright room that Mikan guessed was the living room.

"As you can see, to the left is the study, you are provided with a computer and laptop. To the right is the formal dining for special occasions, or for when you will need to cater for a few more people," She led Mikan through the dining room, "Around the corner is the informal dining room, this is where you will have your meals like breakfast and snacks." she said pointing at a small circular glass table. They then went through a doorway into the bright room Mikan had correctly identified as the living room. It was spacious and in pale blues, greys, and whites, making it seem even roomier. A ridiculously large plasma was mounted on one of the walls. Opposite the plasma was an L-shaped couch upholstered in white leather. But what held Mikan's attention was the giant wall made of glass panes. The glass wall was shrouded in a grey gauzy veil, with heavier blue curtains hanging limp at each side. Mikan drew back the grey veil, revealing a set of frosted French doors leading out to what appeared to be a mix between a courtyard and a forest. There were stone paths leading to the centre of the garden, but there were so many shrubs, it was difficult to see too far in. When she looked up, she could see the other arc of the circle in the distance through the thick vegetation of tall trees and leafy vines. The walls were all made of a reddish wood, blending in with the forest-like surroundings.

"Nobody's here yet, classes won't finish for half an hour, so you can go upstairs and make yourself presentable. In 45 minutes I will send a student down to give you a full tour."

"Wait, do we have to wear the school uniform at all times?"

"No, just during classes. Now I really have to rush, I have a meeting with the principal. Well, Bye, Mikan. I hope you settle in well!" and without a second look the teacher walked away, leaving Mikan alone in her new unit. She sighed and made her way up the stairs, stopping to open the door at the top of the staircase. It took Mikan a while to realize that the entire upper floor was her bedroom. The room seemed to be split in half by the staircase, which had the walk in closet to one side and the bathroom and toilet on the other. Looking to the left, Mikan saw a king sized bed resting in front of a wall covered by indigo curtains. She walked over and drew back the curtains to see one of the balconies she had observed when she first saw the building. Looking to the other side of the room, she noticed a sort of informal living room, with a small, comfortable looking couch and a giant beanbag. She pulled back the curtains on this side of the room to reveal another balcony, but this balcony seemed to go uninterrupted around the whole arc, making visiting other rooms easier. Mikan, who had grown up in an orphanage, had never seen luxury like this and was sceptical.

"Narumi must've been joking" she murmured to herself, although it still didn't explain the presence of only one bed. Mikan looked inside the walk-in-wardrobe, determined to find signs of another person living in the unit, and found a couple of uniforms and a white and blue dress with a note apologising for throwing all of her old clothes away, as they were inappropriate. Sighing, Mikan took the dress and made her way to the bathroom, cringing at the thought of the battle she would soon undertake in against her hair.

After half an hour of tugging and pulling at her hair, Mikan finally emerged from the bathroom in her dress. With the heavy makeup gone, Mikan's walnut eyes lost their hard look, softening her features. Her hair now lay flat, cascading over her shoulders and gleaming gold where the sun touched it. The dress, although a little large on her, was still better than anything she had received while at the orphanage. But it still wasn't really to her taste, the blue flowers on white looked a little too...motherly? Mikan sighed before running downstairs when she heard the chime of a doorbell. She jumped down the stairs and quickly answered the door, before realizing that whoever was there was waiting in the inside of the circle, in other words, at the _other_ door. It would take a while to get used to having several doors. Mikan opened the French doors and noticed a girl her age standing on the deck with an impatient look on her face. The girl had dark hair, cut short like a boy's. She was wearing one of the school uniforms (you know what it looks like) and was examining something on the ground. She picked it up, placed it in her pocket and turned to face Mikan with her lilac eyes. Her eyes reminded Mikan of two amethysts, purple, cold, unfeeling, but sparkling nonetheless.

"Hello, my name is Hotaru Imai, you may call me Imai-san," she said in an emotionless voice, "I was asked to show you around." Without another word she turned and started walking away from the unit, giving Mikan no choice but to hurry after her.

"This general area of the school is known as the Upper Quarters, it includes this building and the surrounding area and facilities. The Upper Quarters is the part of the school reserved for upper students, with facilities of a better quality and standard. The building surrounding us is known as the upper corona. The upper corona serves as a dormitory for all upper students, and is divided into two equal arcs, the female upper dormitory arc, and the male upper dormitory arc. The garden that we are standing in now is known as the inner corona, one of the safest places in the academy. You see, the only possible way to enter this garden, excluding the sky, is to go through a unit. To enter a unit one must have their retina and thumb print scanned, this prevents anyone who isn't an upper student or teacher from entering. Do you have any questions so far?" Mikan digested all of the new information for a second before noticing that Imai's patience was running thin.

"N-nothing, Imai-san, please continue!" Mikan said nervously, but then realized that Imai wasn't even paying attention. Her head was tilted slightly to the right, watching a boy out of the corner of her eye. He was tall with pale skin, dark black hair and bright green eyes. His features seemed perfect, he had the face of a model. Imai greeted him stiffly, "Kuonji."

"Hotaru, I keep on telling you to call me Katsutoshi, there's no need for you to be so formal." He reprimanded her. She just ignored this comment, the corners of her mouth turned down. Katsutoshi then noticed Mikan and shot her a dazzling smile.

"But _you_ can call me Katsu, and what might I have the pleasure of calling you?" Mikan blushed before answering "I'm Mikan, umm, are you an upper student-" Imai cut Mikan off, "If you have no business with us, Kuonji, we will take our leave." She guided Mikan back towards the building but he grabbed her forearm, holding her back.

"Be careful of how you act, Hotaru, because you're not talking to me very nicely. We wouldn't want...an accident to occur..." He smiled at Imai politely, and tightened his grip. However, his grin disappeared when he felt someone prying his fingers off Imai's arm. It was Mikan.

"What are you doing, Miki?" he asked with a tint of anger in his voice.

"That's Sakura-san to you. Please leave Imai-san alone, she obviously doesn't want your attention." With a sly grin Katsutoshi retrieved his hand. "Normally I would get very angry at your words but, since it's you, _Miki_, I'll let it pass this one time, just keep in mind," he reached out for Mikan and pulled her closer to him, then bent down to whisper in her ear, "I'll be watching." He turned around and walked away, leaving a blushing Mikan.

"You like him." Stated Imai. Mikan didn't deny it.

"Yes, but I hate him too, he gives me the creeps. It doesn't matter how attractive he is, I can still tell that he's someone I should stay away from. At the orphande that was how you survived, identifying risks and avoiding them." Mikan looked up to see Imai...smiling.

"You're not as stupid as I thought."

"Imai-san..."

"Hotaru, you can call me Hotaru."

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Was it good? Or did I desribe everything too much, I can get a little carried away...PLEASE REVIEW!!!


	4. Fear

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or its characters. Higuchi Tachibana, however, does.

Yay! Another update! You will (hopefully) be pleased to know that this chapter is even longer than the last one, coz I've realized how much more fun it is to write (and read) longer chapters. I've also made the paragraphs shorter for easy reading, and next I plan on doing the same for some of the previous chapters.

And, I declare my wireless internet officially dead. Now I have to trail a 20m long bright red cord to my room and hope my mum doesn't notice...as if she wouldn't.

**This chapter is dedicated to ****bluechibi**** for reviewing both of my stories and giving me awesome advice on describing with more than just sight, thanks!**

_Thank you very much to all the great people who reviewed:_

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Thanks also to the people who favorited of alerted this story.

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A Part of my World

Chapter 4

**Fear **

It was evening, the air was peaceful, and Mikan was tingling with a quiet excitement, her face raised contentedly towards the dark evening sky. She was sitting cross legged on the balcony overlooking the inner corona, the cool wind tickling her skin and blowing her hair around. The smell of rain still lingered in the air, along with a hint of something earthy.

Looking out over the garden below her, Mikan realized that it was more peaceful than it had ever been at the orphanage. At the orphanage there were always children shouting, crying, fighting.

There was no time to just sit and relax, if you did, people would think you were soft and target you, you always had to tread that thin line between appearing weak and appearing to be a threat. You made friends with those who didn't stand out, yet weren't too quiet. It was a change of pace to just be sitting quietly, fading into the background.

Occasionally people passed by, their bare feet thumping on the wooden floors of the balcony. Mikan just ignored them, content to watch the light slowly fade away, watching the ritual transformation of day to night.

She played with the small golden coin Hotaru gave her with the words, "I found this outside your door, I was planning on keeping it but...you can have it." Although her voice was emotionless, Mikan felt that it had saddened Hotaru to part with the valuable gold coin. Come to think of it, what was the coin? It didn't resemble any currency she had seen before. She examined it closely, it had inscribed on it;

_Official Currency of AA_

_~1 R~_

Mikan shrugged, it meant nothing to her. She continued to toss it up and down, staring off into the dark sky. She could see the lights of a plane flying in the distance, flashing bright red. It looked so small against the wide sky that seemed to go on forever...

"HI! I'm Nonoko Ogasawara, and this is Anna Umenomiya!" Mikan had been too absorbed watching the sky to notice the two girls approaching.

The girl who called herself Nonoko had Indigo blue hair which gently waved down her back. Her blue grey eyes glittered in the light coming from a nearby unit. She wore a plain, white long sleeved shirt and a plaited navy skirt with a ropey white belt, looking great despite its simplicity, or maybe because of it.

The girl next to her, Anna, had bubblegum pink hair that freely curled down to her shoulders. Her hazel eyes seemed to smile innocently at you. She wore a pale pink shirt that flared out at the bottom, and a pair of black skinny jeans, providing stunning contrast. Mikan was beginning to feel poorly dressed in her borrowed dress, she didn't even want to imagine how she would've felt had she been wearing her old clothes.

"Hi, I'm Mikan, it's nice to-"

"You're a new student aren't you! Let's be friends!" Nonoko interrupted.

Anna smiled "It's nice to meet you too, Mikan, forgive my friend for interrupting, she can get excited when it comes to new friends!" Nonoko looked confused for a second before realizing what she'd done.

"Oh, sorry! Anyway...what's your Alice?"

"Alice?" Mikan asked confusedly.

"Yeah, I hope it's a technical ability type, coz then you could be in our class!" added Anna smiling.

"What's an Alice?" The two girls froze for a second, staring at Mikan.

"Oh, an alice is...ahh, it's like a colour that suits you best! You see, mine is blue, and Anna's is pink! Get it?"

"Oh, so then, what does technical ability type mean?"

"It means your colour is one of those colours where it has a lot of..ability to do stuff, like make...other colours." Nonoko looked to Anna for help.

"So basically, if your colour is a primary colour, you're a technical ability type, because primary colours can mix to make other types!" Anna smoothly delivered, a flawless excuse, except...

"But, pink isn't a primary colour and you said that you were a technical ability type." At this Anna and Nonoko froze for a second before smiling brightly.

"What's that thing you're holding?"

"Can I see it? It looks shiny! Please?"

"Umm, sure. It's a present from a friend." Nonoko examined the gold coin.

"Are you sure this was a present?"

"Yup!"

"It can't have been, it's only worth, like, 10 cents."

"Oh...Yeah, well...that's just...I was only joking about the present thingy...yeah!" Mikan scrambled to keep what respect could be scavenged, internally cursing Hotaru. If it was only worth 10 cents why did Hotaru even bother picking it up? "Hey, what currency is this?"

"Huh? You don't know? This is the official Alice Academy currency."

"This school has its own currency?!"

"Uh huh, what you're holding there is a 1 rabbit coin. There's also a 5 rabbit coin. 10 rabbits make up a hare, which converts to roughly 1 dollar."

"Who named it such a gay name? No, let me guess, it was Narumi-sensei, wasn't it?"

"Well, no. It's a sort of tradition, from way before Naru-sensei was born."

"Aww, how boring, do you have Naru-sensei as a teacher?"

"Yup, he's our homeroom teacher! Come to think of it..." the two girls grinned at Mikan, "yours too, you're in our class! Isn't that exciting!" Mikan looked at her new friends and saw that they actually were excited, it was kind of contagious and Mikan had to control herself before she did something stupid like start a group hug.

She needn't have worried, because it was Anna who started it, shouting out "GROUP HUGG!" Before Mikan could do anything she was enveloped in arms. Anna and Nonoko smelt like freshly baked coconut cookies and some sort of expensive citrus shampoo. Mikan started to relax, and soon she was shrieking in excitement with the others. They were interrupted by an emotionless voice.

"Mikan, the staff want to see you. To explain something important."

"Huh, Imai-san! Join the group hug!" Chimed in Nonoko

"No, don't touch me, your idiocy might be contagious. Mikan, follow me." Without waiting for Mikan's response, Hotaru started off down the balcony, leaving Mikan to, again, run after her.

"Hotaru! That coin you gave me, is it really only worth 10 cents?"

"Baka, of course not." Mikan suddenly felt happy, at least she was worth more than 10 cents. Hotaru continued, "With the dollar rising against the Alice Academy currency, that coin is only worth 7.3 cents by now."

"Then why did you pick it up!" Hotaru didn't answer. By now they were outside of the upper corona, the surrounding forest looking dark and menacing in the twilight.

"Umm, Hotaru, do we have to go through the woods to get to the teachers, by any chance...?"

"Of course not, we don't have to, but _you_ do." Hotaru again walked off, and once again Mikan chased after her.

"Please, please come with me Hotaru, I'll do anything you want, just don't make me go through those woods alone, please." Mikan had grabbed onto Hotaru's arm, begging with her eyes.

"Fine, but you _will_ owe me." Hotaru then took what looked like a remote control out of her pocket and pressed a button. Mikan stared in awe as a part of the deck suddenly opened up revealing a brightly lit staircase leading down under the building. She cautiously followed Hotaru down.

"A series of underground tunnels were dug thousands of years ago, some reaching thousands of kilometres into the earth. Now the tunnels closer to the surface are used as an underground corridor to get from one building to another speedily, and in the case of emergencies."

Hotaru turned to a rack of silver scooter looking machines. She ran her fingers over a few, inspecting, and eventually choose one. They all looked the same to Mikan, but Hotaru seemed to care. "Get on behind me." Ordered Hotaru. Once Mikan was on, the scooter started to rise until it was just under an inch off the floor, before zooming off down the hallways.

"Hotaru, if there were these hallways, why did you tell me to go through the woods." Hotaru's eyes gleamed.

"Because this way, you owe me." Mikan decided not to say anything and instead looked down and saw a rich, burgundy carpet, promoting the image of wealth. Affixed to the high ceilings were slowly rotating crystal chandeliers, throwing light over the whole scene.

The corridors they were zooming through had cream coloured walls lined with paintings and the occasional tapestry. Although they were going too fast for Mikan to make out the contents on the paintings, she guessed that the hallways could also serve as an art gallery.

"All transport utilized in the tunnels are 100% clean, so as not to ruin the artwork with pollution. They also use new hover technology, so that carpets can still be used."

They passed some people walking through, others were zooming past on identical hover scooters, however, despite this, there wasn't even a slight draft through the corridors. Mikan was confused for a second, but forgot her puzzlement as she realized that their scooter was slowing down, coming to a stop outside another staircase leading up towards ground level.

The stairs led to a hallway, at the end of which were a set of dark oak doors. There was a sober touch to the air, as if saying that whoever was waiting behind that door would not appreciate trivialities.

"I'll wait for you here." Hotaru sat down of one of the padded chairs lined up neatly. Mikan took a deep breath and knocked. No one answered so she knocked again, and again. She was about to knock a fourth time but she saw Hotaru shake her head slightly, warning against another.

Mikan waited, her every nerve stretched taught and ready to go off. Then suddenly the door creaked open, wafting over the scent of some sort of feminine smelling floral perfume. That could only mean one person.

"Mikan-chan, did you miss your father!" Mikan only enough time to turn around and see Hotaru's reaction before being enveloped in a tight hug. She turned her head to face Hotaru with some difficulty. Hotaru had a shocked look on her face, mingling with distaste. She was mouthing something 'Your _father.'_

'No!' Mikan mouthed back, then in reply to Hotaru's questioning look, 'Later.' Not a second too soon, because Narumi dragged her into the room and shut the door.

After seeing Narumi, Mikan honestly expected the office to be decked out in pink, with fake butterflies pasted on the windows. Instead it was a neat modern looking office. A man was seated behind a desk. He seemed like someone with authority, despite looking in his early 20s. A name plate read:

'_Principal - Kazu Yukihara'_

So he was the principal. He was staring at her at her intently with his hazel eyes, she didn't know why, but those eyes reminded her of someone, someone familiar. While Mikan was trying to figure out who, the man started to speak.

"I am one of the principals of Alice Academy, Kazu Yukihara. I'm pleased to meet you, Mikan."

"Pleased to meet you too!"

"I expect you're wondering why you're here."

"Well, yes. So, why am I here?"

"Tell me, why do you think this school is called alice academy?" Mikan shot him a baffled look before replying.

"I dunno, maybe the person who founded this place was called Alice or something...?"

"Correct. Or at least indirectly. There was a girl named Alice who discovered a certain ability, leading to the founding of this school dedicated to honing that ability." By now, Mikan thought Yukihara was some sort of nutter who could only speak in metaphoric riddles.

"So then, what's the ability?" Yukihara fixed Mikan with a steady gaze.

"Tell me, do you believe in the supernatural?"

"No, what sort of question is that." Mikan was getting creeped out. It felt as if any minute now he would be declaring the existence of magic and telling her to pack her bags; she was going to Hogwarts! She stifled a giggle at the insane notion.

"What if I told you, that you had better start believing in the supernatural soon." Mikan raised her eyebrows, the man _was _crazy. She turned her to see how Narumi was reacting, and was surprised to see him entirely serious, she had _never_ seen Narumi entirely serious before, _ever_.

She looked back at Yukihara to see, again, intently staring at her, waiting for her reaction. Mikan didn't know how to deal with the situation, so she started to laugh. At first just a slight giggle, then louder, uncontrolled laughter.

"Y-you can't be serious, right? Like, _magic,_ you want me to believe in _magic_!" The two men's faces didn't change. "But there's no such thing as magic, and even if there was, then why does no one know about it? Oh yeah, because it doesn't exist!"

"Mikan, there is such a thing as, well, magic, though we prefer the term 'Alice'. You see, some people have certain gifts. Sometimes just an aptitude for a certain skill, others have an affinity with certain elements, others have skills that normal people would be unable to attain. These gifts are called Alices, and Alice Academy is a school established to educate and train those people with Alices."

"No way, I thought that this was meant to be a serious school, not some nut house! I should've realized that whatever school Narumi worked at wouldn't be serious. I bet this is an asylum and this is some test for my mental health! Well I'm normal, average, NOT CRAZY LIKE SOME PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM!" Mikan tried to push past Narumi, but he stopped her.

"Mikan, please wait, we can prove it!" Mikan stiffened as he said those words to her.

"How!? It's impossible!" She hissed back at him. She heard Yukihara snap his fingers and then watched as two men dressed in black stepped out of the shadowy corners of the rooms.

"Show her. Show her your alices." Mikan tried to tear herself from Narumi's grip, not wanting to see anymore of the madness, but she froze when she saw the lumps growing on the principal's desk.

The perfectly normal desk was starting to swell in places, the swellings reaching out until they started to resemble branches. The branches started to fork, splitting in different direction. Bark started growing and twigs started appearing. Suddenly small green buds started sprouting, unfurling leaves and turning the room green.

And then all of a sudden the ground wasn't there anymore, she was falling, her stomach doing little loops, making it feel like she was on an aeroplane during severe turbulence. The darkness was absolute, binding the struggling Mikan, forcing her flailing limbs still. She fell for what seemed like an eternity, before finally crumpling in a heap on what felt like grass.

Slowly, Mikan opened her eyes, and when she did she immediately shut them. The scene was so vibrant and bright, it hurt her eyes after so long in the dark. Squinting, Mikan again tried to open her eyes, examining her surroundings.

She was in a flower garden, but the flowers were in such impossible shades of the brightest colours. A breeze blew over Mikan's face, bringing with it the sweet smell of lavender and roses. Mikan raised her head from the grass, looking up towards the lurid blue sky, the fluffy white clouds forming shapes with outstanding accuracy. The sun shone brightly, warming her cold skin.

Mikan was taking everything in wide eyed when she felt an uncomfortable prickling at the back of her neck, as if she was being watched. She pulled herself up to a sitting position, turning her neck to see the scenery behind her.

She froze, seeing a figure standing a few metres away. It was a woman, she was dressed in a long sweeping gown, white with gold embroidery. Her long black hair was tied back in a loose plait reaching her waist. A golden circlet rested on her head, which was turned away from Mikan.

The woman's attention seemed to be taken by a bush of dark red roses, sweet smelling petals turned towards to morning sun. Her hand reached out, gently stroking the nearest bloom with a slender white finger. Mikan didn't know why, but this seemingly gentle act set her every nerve on fire.

Slowly, the woman's head tilted towards Mikan until the two were directly looking at each other. Mikan heard a rustling sound and the woman was blocked from her view by a face that had suddenly appeared just a few inches from her own.

Although Mikan could only see the lower part of it, she could tell that it was a beautiful face, pale with delicate lips a bright shade of red. The smell of lilies wafted in the air. A hand reached out, a single slim finger lifting Mikan's up until they made eye contact. Instantly, Mikan was lost in the eyes, the crimson red eyes, just like Natsume's.

For what seemed to be both a second and an eternity, the hand retreated and the person took a step back from the kneeling Mikan. With a sudden jolt of horror, Mikan realized that the woman in front of her was the same woman who she had seen earlier admiring the roses. Slowly, the woman's mouth curled upwards in a smile, but it all seemed wrong.

Mikan was frozen in fear, her mind was screaming at her to run as far as her legs could carry her, and then crawl until she was too exhausted to go any farther, but she couldn't pull her eyes away from the red ones holding her captive.

The screaming kept on getting louder and louder until Mikan couldn't stand it. She wished with her entire being for it to end, she didn't care what happened, so long as she could escape the fear that had embedded itself throughout every inch in her quivering body. So long as it would end. And then darkness again, but his time Mikan embraced it.

* * *

"What do you mean you didn't show her anything!? LOOK AT HER!"The angry principal pointed at the girl who had collapsed in Narumi's arms. She was pale as death, beads of sweat still trickling down her forehead.

"I didn't! I started the illusion off normally but something happened! It was like someone took control of my illusion!" One of the men wearing black was fervently defending himself, "It felt like someone pushed me out and then suddenly she's on the floor, screaming her head off!" Yukihara's furious look disappeared and his eyes widened.

"...But how, why... and who?"

* * *

Good? Bad? Why? Pleeease review!

Also, a question! Who is the woman in the garden? To figure this out, you should first try to figure out the identity of someone else mentioned in the chapter.

By the way, the answer is not "Natsume's (insert relative here)"

Good luck, don't worry, it's not impossible. And the first person to get it correct will win a (drumroll) CHAPTER DEDICATION!

Please read my other story, Lost and Forgotten, also a Gakuen Alice fanfic!


	5. Trust and Betrayal

My pen name, Wyntta, has been changed to natsumikanlove

As for story names:

Lost and forgotten is now Lost Memories

A Part of my World is now Drowning out the Echoes

Sorry for the change in pen name and story name.

I assure you I have a good reason to, such as pesky family members snooping around :(

In any case, I wanted the freedom to write what I want as opposed to having to hold my tongue when it comes to some things.

This won't affect the actual content of the chapters :)

~Wyntta-chan

(now, regrettably, natsumikanlove. But I hope to change back once my family has given up)

* * *

Now, back to normal stuffs!  
**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or its characters**

Sorrry for taking so long to update!!! I admit it was due to laziness and a reluctance to write, but once I started it was fun ^_^

Thank you very much to the **_awesome _**reviewers:

_abbyciel_

_Eternal Anime Fan_

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_JeZrA-Amutolover110_ -(sorry, this chapter's kinda short)

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_Najika Tsubasa-chan_ - Yay! Friends ^_^

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_bluechibi_ - Thanks for the awesome advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If everyone reviewed like you, imagine how much everybody could improve!

_DamageReport_

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WOW!! 59 reviews :D

And so far, no one has managed to figure out the identity of the creepy garden lady, so I'll give another clue.

clue #1: She knows Alice

clue #2: Think Disney

BTW, this chapter has...

drumroll...

NATSUME!!!!

* * *

A Part of my World

Chapter 5

**Trust and Betrayal**

"-wake up. Mikan, wake up!"

"..."

"Mikan, if you don't wake up, I'll shoot you with my Baka gun."

"..."

"You're asking for it."

"...? ITAAAAI!" Mikan was finally awake. She threw a weak punch at Hotaru with one arm, the other arm kneading her forehead. "WHAT WAS _THAT _FOR!?"

"I warned you, but you didn't listen." Mikan saw Hotaru holding what appeared to be a bazooka, before it shrunk and warped itself into a metallic bangle, fitting snugly around the indifferent girl's wrist. "Now hurry up, you've already wasted enough of my time." Hotaru started to walk towards the door, but stopped when she heard no movement from Mikan. Turning around, Hotaru saw that Mikan's eyes were wide and had a glazed over look. She was staring off into space, her expression a blank canvas. But then Hotaru saw a tear creep out of the corner of her eye.

"Mikan..."

"Do you have an Alice?" Mikan tilted her head up to meet Hotaru's eyes.

"Yes, the invention Alice." Hotaru paused, wondering if she should say more. But she was a girl of few words, and indifference prevailed. "Come, or you'll be late." She watched as Mikan slowly rose from the couch where Hotaru had deposited her the night before. Mikan wiped her eyes and looked into Hotaru's.

"So it's true..."

"Stop idling. The maids have prepared us breakfast."

Mikan just nodded, swallowing. She wasn't feeling very hungry; what she had seen the previous night was still haunting her mind. She gave her head a quick shake, as if by that movement all unpleasant though would fall out.

The two girls changed and ate in silence before leaving for class. Mikan wasn't so far out of it that she couldn't appreciate the convulsing butterflies crashing against her stomach, trying in vain to burst the slimy walls open and escape. Good luck there. It was still a new school, a new class, new people. She, preferably, had to make _friends._ At least pretend to.

* * *

Everybody was staring. Mikan watched wistfully as Hotaru made her way to her seat next to Nonoko and Anna. She was standing at the front of the classroom, and although she was doing a very good job of pretending to be interested with the blackboard, was still painfully aware of the 23 pairs of eyes focused intently on the back of her head. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, she remembered her earlier conversation with Anna and Nonoko.

"_...do you have Naru-sensei as a teacher?"_

"_Yup, he's our homeroom teacher! Come to think of it..." the two girls grinned at Mikan, "yours too, you're in our class! Isn't that exciting!" _

"Sooo, class! This is the girl I was telling you about, my _daughter _." Narumi looked pleased with himself as he emphasized the word 'daughter'. Mikan, however, was tempted to repetitively bang her head against the blackboard until everyone disappeared. However, common sense dictated that a solution like that probably wouldn't work; as the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't. Narumi continued, "So I'll expect you to treat my _daughter_ well, she is _my daughter_ after all."

Stuff common sense, the banging-her-head-against-the-blackboard solution was looking better and better to the red faced Mikan.

"So, _daughter, _please introduce yourself ." Mikan jumped at the opportunity to stop him from talking.

"Yes, umm, my name is Mikan Sakura and I like to ummm-" Mikan was interrupted.

"Mi-Mikan?" Mikan looked up and suddenly everything went at an excruciatingly slow pace. A boy, with raven black hair, standing in the back row, a look of shock on his face, staring at Mikan. Everybody's heads swivelled, looking from the boy to the girl, and back again. With their mouths wide open, Mikan felt as if she were in a carnival, watching the painted clown faces eerily rotate. Mikan had a sudden urge to start throwing things at them to see how many she could get in, but stopped herself and brought her eyes back to the boy. She realized with a jolt that the boy had eyes red as fresh blood. Her world froze again, everything stopped. There was only his eyes, nothing else.

"Nat...sume..." Mikan gripped the locket that was hanging off her neck. It was warm from her body heat.

Narumi looked delighted. "Well, since you two already know each other, Mikan, you can sit next to Natsume !" Mikan's hand tightened painfully around the locket; she was holding onto it like one would cling to a branch overhanging a cliff. She tore her eyes away from Natsume and looked at the ground, oblivious to the barely distinguishable mutterings and slightly more audible cries of outrage.

Walking slowly, eyes fixed on the ground, not daring to look up. She reached the back row and turned. Kept walking, because maybe if she didn't stop she would be able to pass it all by. So far nothing, she had run into no walls, or obstacles in general. Perhaps this would work.

A hand, on her shoulder. Holding her in place, then turning her around, turning her around to face him. But facing him was the one thing she never wanted to do again.

His garnet eyes bearing into hers. "Mikan...what's wrong? Mikan?" Her stomach tumbling. His eyes familiar, almost sickeningly so. She grimaced as she felt the locket draw blood. The sudden pain brought her back to reality.

Mikan's eyes widened as she realized the situation. The entire class was in an uproar, and she...she was standing in front of Natsume, the one person she had never expected to see again. So she did the only logical thing. She brushed Natsume's hands off her shoulders and sat down. Then she took her books out of her bag, followed by her pencil case. She started to count the stationary: 2 pacers; 3 biros, one blue, one black and one red; 1 scented rubber; one metal sharpener; 1 twelve pack of coloured pencils; 1 small ruler; 1 tape of whiteout and 1 lead (0.5mm) refill box. Everything there.

Suddenly Mikan felt her chair fall away, she realized with a wave of terror that she was suspended off the ground, floating above everyone's heads.

"Don't ignore Natsume-sama!" A boy with coffee coloured skin snarled. A sea of angry faces viciously nodded in agreement. Mikan felt sick and nauseous, the faint hint of bile making its way up her throat. She kept her mouth closed, scared that if she shouted she wouldn't be able to help herself. She could hear the sounds of some protests coming from Anna, Nonoko and a blonde boy in glasses.

"Stop." With that one word Natsume silenced the entire class "Let her down." Mikan was brought back to solid ground, albeit a little roughly. Once she could feel the ground under her feet she collapsed to her knees, panting heavily, the slight sheen of sweat visible on her forehead. She ignored the hand offered by Natsume and made her way back to her seat, giving Nonoko and Anna what she hoped was a reassuring smile, but in the end it looked more like a grimace.

Mikan sensed Natsume take his seat beside her. She crinkled her nose as she smelt the faint scent of deodorant. He didn't used to smell like that, his smell used to remind her sap and trees and something earthy. She focused her eyes on the front desk, ignoring the boy beside her. The front desk was empty, she hadn't even realized Narumi had left.

Mikan froze as she felt a hand grab her own and prise it open, revealing the locket.

"You kept it too." Natsume pulled out an identical locket from beneath his shirt. Mikan turned her head away and almost regretted it when she realized how many heads were turned towards her. She looked down and noticed that her stationary was still out, so she decided to put it all back in her pencil case. She saw that her fingers were trembling, but she continued, trying to hide it. She didn't even stop when she felt his breath on her neck. He growled in her ear "Dammit, Mikan, why aren't you talking to me!"

She just gritted her teeth and continued placing her ruler in the pencil case. However, she did move her chair an inch away from him. She kept her eyes low and heard the scraping of his chair against the floor as he stood up, followed by the noise off his receding footsteps. There was a flurry of activity as his friends hastily followed him, and then silence. No one spoke. Mikan wondered if maybe the classroom was empty of everyone but her. At least until a girl stood up and walked towards her.

The girl had glossy green hair, permed at the front. Her bright green eyes burned with hostility. "Why'd you ignore Natsume!?" she hissed. Mikan ignored her and went back to her stationary. The permed girl raised a hand and brought it down across Mikan's face.

CRACK

Mikan slowly raised a hand to her cheek and rubbed it. The permed girl spoke again.

"Do you realize just how much you hurt Natsume? Do you even care? Or are you only concerned about your pens and pencils?" Mikan looked up and met the girl's eyes.

"Natsume means nothing to me." Mikan's hand tightened around the locket. The locket was a reminder, a reminder to never trust a single person again. Especially not him, not after he had deserted her.

* * *

Sorry it's so short!! Anyhow, is it good or bad, I'd love feedback!

And please read my other stories :D

And MERRRY CHHHRIIISTAMAAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!

(What're you looking at *glares*)


	6. Suppressing Tears

Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry!!!!!!

I know that at times it may have seemed like I was dead and buried, or otherwise indisposed!!! And I know that I may have left the story at a rather terrible point, when it was just starting to get interesting!! And I have been reminded that it's been about 4 months since I last updated!! And I can't even say it's a long chapter as my excuse! But in my defense I do just about everything at the steady pace of a crippled sloth. And I have a lot of homework! And my mother keeps on unplugging the internet. And on a totally random side note, some weird book she read has now convinced her that drinking milk will give us all liver cancer. Great, now milk has been added to the extensive list of foods that my mum won't let us eat/drink because they'll give us cancer.

Anyways, at least pretend to forgive me for my late update. Hmmm...this chapter has no Natsume, but next chapter will.

I solely dedicate this chapter to all of the people who were waiting 4 months for this

Thank you very much to the people who reviewed this story ^^

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* * *

**Drowning out the echoes**

_~6~_

Mikan kept her head down the rest of the lesson, listening desperately to the teacher's monotonous droning. She didn't want to think about anything else. But occasionally stray wisps of thought would leak out against her will, making her cringe. She had started to tune out the constant prickling at the back of her neck, alerting her to wandering eyes. But she forced herself to not think about why they were watching her. The bell rang, making Mikan jump as her absolute concentration was disturbed. She looked up to see the rest of the class already jumping up and stacking their books, shooting occasional glances her way, then rapidly looking away when they saw her seeing their furtive peeking. The replacement teacher hurried off with a meek squeeking noise. Immediatley they descended, like seagulls on a dropped pie, except that in this case the unfortunate victim was Mikan. Questioned were fired from all directions, leaving her pressed against the nearest wall, surrounded.

"How do you know Natsume?"

"_Do_ you know him?"

"What's your Alice?"

"Why did you ignore Natsume?"

"He didn't make a mistake, did he?"

"You're Mikan, right?"

"How dare you!"

"Do you and Natsume know each other?"

And then a cold voice, cutting through all the flocking scavengers. "You're blocking the way."

"What the hell, Imai, the door's that way"

"No," she ran her finger along her bangle and the metal twisted, warped and expanded to become a small, but lethal looking, pistol, and pointed it at the offending girl "I think you are. Now, if your thick skull contains anything other than dead brain matter, you'll move out of the way so my friend can pass." That got everyone's attention, Imai didn't have friends, it was a proven fact, cemented ever further by her constant selfish behaviour. But it was still probably the pistol that did it. The flock reluctantly dispersed, eyes flicking suspiciously from face to face in search of Hotaru's friend. Mikan took the chance to grab her books and make a run for it, giving Hotaru a brief nod as she passed. Hotaru turned to the confused people before sweetly smiling "Carry on now, dimwits." before smugly walking off. She didn't need to look for Mikan, she already knew where the girl was; she had sewn a tracker button onto Mikan's shirt the previous night. Hotaru frowned as she read Mikan's vital signs. Accelerated pulse, excessive sweating, erratic breathing – her friend was clearly upset. Hotaru considered comforting Mikan, but decided not to in the end; she wasn't very good at dealing with people. Instead she turned her thoughts to the relationship between Mikan and Natsume.

Clearly they knew each other from before. But how? Narumi had claimed that Mikan was his daughter, but she had already analysed and compared their facial features to come to the conclusion that they weren't even remotely blood related. Her mind flashed back to the previous day when Katsutoshi Kuonji had spoken to Mikan. Kuonji normally didn't bother with new students, so perhaps he had been ordered to talk to Mikan by the middle school principal. In addition, Mikan had introduced herself as Mikan _Sakura_. Sakura...Hotaru had a brief flash of déjà vu. She felt as if she knew someone else by the name of Sakura. A voice broke her deep concentration.

"Imai." Hotaru looked up to meet the eyes of Hyuuga's loyal follower.

"Nogi." She greeted him with a brisk nod and continued on her way. She could tell he wanted to know something, but she wasn't going to make it easy.

"Hey, wait!"

'Do you have any business with me?'

'Yes.' Nogi's gaze was resolute, 'What do you know about that girl?'

'Which girl?' Hotaru's face remained impassive.

'Don't play games, Imai. You know I'm talking about Mikan Sakura.'

'Mikan? Hadn't you better ask Narumi if you want to find out about her? After all, he is her father.' Nogi opened his mouth to answer but abruptly closed it again when he noticed that Hotaru was already speeding off. He shook his head, it was useful to try to make Imai do anything she didn't feel like doing.

* * *

Mikan kept on walking, doing the 7 times tables in her head to distract her mind. She nearly lost control when she ran out of those, but soon reverted to the 13 times tables. As she walked through the corridors she tried all the door handles until she found one that was unlocked. It was a utility cupboard, empty except for the few buckets and smelling strongly of detergent. 13x10 makes 130. She stretched out her arms and took a step in. 13x11 makes 143. She cleared the floor for somewhere to sit. 13x12 makes 156. She gingerly lowered herself to the ground and grabbed the door. 13x13 makes 169. As door slammed shut and the cupboard was engulfed in total darkness, she exhaled in relief and licked the salty tears off her cheeks. Her head rested on one of the walls as she tried to suppress her sobs. For some reason, the smell of ammonia and strong bleach calmed her down, so she took deep breaths. Slowly, her muffled sobs began to subside and was reduced to a sniffle. Mikan felt herself relax when she heard a set of footstep slowly and deliberately stop outside the door. A cleaner? She hurriedly wiped her eyes in the hope that maybe her crying would go unnoticed.

The crack of light that slipped through the door stung Mikan's eyes, making her tightly clamp her lids together and raise her hands to her eyes. After much rapid blinking, she could finally see and her breath caught in her throat when she noticed that it was Katsutoshi.

'Kuonji, what are you doing here?' Mikan's voice was full of hostility.

'I was looking for you, Miki. I heard about your little spectacle earlier and came to see if there was anything I could do.' At this Mikan glared at him 'Look, here, have a tissue.' The boy held out a box of tissues, but Mikan ignored the floral box. Katsutoshi sighed. 'Fine, then, don't accept my help, but you know,' he looked Mikan straight in the eye, 'your friends are worried about you.'

'Friends? Who?'

'You know, Hotaru and Anna,' he frowned for a moment before continuing, 'and Ogasawara.'

Mikan was rendered speechless for a moment upon the realisation that she did have friends. She looked up when she saw Katsutoshi fling his arms up, as if in surrender.

'Fine, fine, I'll go.' He turned around and started to walk off before pausing and turning back, 'Sorry that I could be of no assistance.'

As soon as he turned round the corner Mikan got up and wiped her eyes, guilt-ridden for making her friends worry. She had to smile, even if she felt like crying. Right on cue, Nonoko and Anna raced around the corner, flinging their arms around their neck.

"We were so worried when you suddenly ran off! You looked so upset!' When they looked up, they were surprised to see her smiling.

'I'm fine, you guys worry too much.' Nonoko looked at Mikan suspiciously before shrugging.

'C'mon! If we're not quick we won't get seats in the dining room!'

'Huh? What? It's not dinner yet.'

Anna rolled her eyes. 'No, _lunch_. Jeez, sometimes you're so clueless. But that's okay, I bet you've never been to the dining room before!' She looped her arm around Mikan's and started to drag her through the corridors.

* * *

So that's it for today...probably, I'm starting work on the next chapter right away, but don't expect me to finish it today, I still have to do my Yr 12 maths homework :S

Oh, and I'm sorry again!!!!!! But if you kill me I won't get to finish the story!


	7. Something Special

SOOOOORRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEE! I know that by now you're probably getting annoyed at my chapterly apologisations for being late, but I am! Especially to the people who have been waiting for another chapter (especially for that embarassment that is known as chapter 6). There's a bit of Natsume in this chapter, but there will be more in the next one.

Thank you to the brilliant reviewers:

amanda :)

bunnyjumps

Lady from Mars

shiki chama

XxMidnightPrincessxX

moonacre99

icily-COOL

_Dedicated to all of the people who had to wait so long for me to update. _

_It will probably happen again, so expect a lot of dedications :)_

Disclaimer: I own Gakuen Alice and all associated characters (bet you didn't expect that one :D)

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* * *

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**Drowning out the Echoes**

**Chapter 7**

**Something Special**

By the end of the day, Mikan was already getting used to the constant stares and scantily concealed whispers, but it was still an unpleasant experience. She suppressed a shiver as she remembered lunch. The food had been delicious, and the hall was amazing, but people kept on 'casually' walking past. The only thing that stopped some of them from 'accidentally' spilling their drinks on her was Hotaru's cold aura of menace. It made conversation nearly impossible, but Mikan was grateful. The best part; Mikan hadn't seen Natsume since the morning.

Someone, accidentally or not, roughly jostled Mikan as he rushed to class. Her books fell to the ground with a solid thump, loose paper flying up. Mikan swore under her breath. Curse this school. Curse Narumi for bringing her here. She reached for the nearest book, but someone beat her to it.

'So you're in the special abilities class.' He held out the book for Mikan.

'Yes' Mikan murmured, roughly gathering her notes, she would have to reorder them later, but for now she just wanted to get out of the corridor as soon as possible. 'Thank you for helping-' she stopped as she realized who she was talking to. His garnet eyes regarded her with a look that she didn't understand, or didn't want to understand. She quickly stood up, cradling her books to her chest as if they could shield her from the intensity of that look.

"H-Hyuuga-san, I-"

"Mikan." was all he said. As he held out one of her exercise books, Mikan's eyes flickered from his face to the books, before hurriedly grabbing the book as if he were poisonous.

"Thank you, Hyuuga-san, I really should be going now." She said, looking away from him. She could feel his eyes on her back as she retreated down the corridor, and it took all of her reason to restrain herself from running away from him and his eyes.

It was a good 10 minutes before Mikan managed to find her classroom. She'd wondered the corridors for what seemed like ages, wondering why the classroom numbers skipped from 451 to 453. When she had finally stopped herself to think, she'd noticed the small red button on the wall, where her classroom should have been. She paused, with her finger hovering over the button, before shrugging and pushing it. For a moment nothing happened, but then the stone wall opened up and rearranged itself into an ascending staircase.

Mikan could hear the faint strains of music and laughter floating down the stairs, and followed the sound. She gasped when she emerged, shocked at the sheer size of the room that vaguely resembled an oversized attic. Above her, heavy wooden beams crisscrossed throughout the giant space, joined by ladders and rope bridges, some laden with chattering students, others with blue, grey pigeons. Mikan could see that the music was coming from a brass gramophone in the nearest corner, and a few students were fighting over the next song. Sunlight streamed in through patches in the roof lighting up the chaotic scene.

She probably would have just stood in shock if voice had not jolted her out of her reverie.

'Shut up guys, it's the new girl!' at once everyone dropped what they were doing and shouted out

"WELCOME TO THE SPECIAL ABILITIES CLASS!" Mikan cringed internally; everybody had started at different times, and it all mushed together into an almost unintelligible shout. But she couldn't help but smile, it was clear that they had put a lot of thought into the welcome party. There was even a banner proclaiming '_Welcome to the class Mikan_'. For the first time in what seemed to be years, she relaxed. Everywhere she turned she could see smiling faces and laughing people. A boy with hair a shocking shade of navy blue and a star tattooed under his eye walked over.

'Don't mind this bunch of idiots, we're just excited to have another special type. By the way, I'm Tsubasa, a single star student and proud of it!' he said grinning. A girl with pink hair grabbed his ear and started to twist it.

'Being a single star is nothing to be proud of, you're not even good enough to be a double star student!' then, ignoring Tsubasa's pitiful cries of pain, turned to Mikan.

"Hello, I'm Misaki Harada, an upper student like you. I've got the doppelganger Alice.'

'Oh yeah, Mikan, what Alice do you have?' Tsubasa had finally managed to free himself from Misaki's grip. Mikan froze. What Alice _did_ she have?

"Ummm...I don't know." Misaki looked at her, puzzled.

"Didn't the principal tell you what Alice you had?"

"No...Maybe I just don't have one." Misaki shook his head at that.

"Impossible, only those with an Alice of the special ability type would have been able to find this room, and anyways, you wouldn't have been let in to the academy without one. Maybe he just forgot to tell you." Mikan nodded slowly.

"It'll be a surprise, I guess."

"Hey Mikan," Tsubasa was massaging his left ear. "Is it true that you're Narumi's daughter? We all though he was, you know, not that interested in women."

"Huh? Mikan's Narumi's daughter?"

"Not exactly, he adopted me because he knew my mum." explained Mikan.

"Well, that explains it. You look nothing like him." sighed Tsubasa. Misaki looked annoyed at him.

"How is it that you knew before I did?" She demanded.

"Come on, everyone's gossiping about her, especially since Na-" he was cut off as Misaki whacked him on the head.

"We agreed not to say anything!" She hissed at the now disorientated boy. Mikan just looked on, puzzled.

After Mikan had been introduced to the entire class they sat on one of the larger wooden beams, eating ice cream kept cold by someone with a weather Alice.

"Where exactly is this?" questioned Mikan, "It's weird, how does a room this big fit into the building when it's around the same size as the building itself?" The students surrounding her grinned.

"That's because we're in the roof. Years back I think there was a dimensional bender. He changed the space so that our room would lead to the roof, even though the roof is actually about 5 levels up. The only other way to get here is by teleporting."

"The best part is that if anyone who's Alice isn't special type passes by, all they'll see is a normal classroom filled with disciplined, studious children, working their little brains out. Of course, if they'd looked properly, they would've noticed that all of those children were students from about 20 years ago." Tsubasa explained, grinning.

"There're dimensional benders?" gasped Mikan, amazed.

"Yup, our teacher, Nodacchi, is one; a time-traveller. The reason why he isn't here is because he's always getting lost in other times. Not that we mind, it means that we can do whatever we like."

"It's awesome, all of the other classes look down on us, thinking that we're just a simple class. Too small to matter much, shoved into a tiny little classroom while everyone else gets rooms 10 times larger. They don't realize that we have the best hangout in the whole school." Mikan looked around and had to agree. Even though it was so large, it had a certain homely softness to it. The special ability class had managed to steal a few old arm chairs from one of the sitting rooms, and had strung up hammocks between beams. A group of younger students took turns jumping from one of the lowest beams (and even them it was a good 4 metres high) onto a giant hay stack, shrieking in joy. The gentle cooing of pigeons filled the air and the soft evening light filtered through the holes in the roof.

"If only I could sleep here." mused Mikan.

"You wouldn't want to. You'd probably end up covered in pigeon shit if you tried." Mikan laughed, but still felt that she never wanted to leave the place. The past few days had been some sort of nightmare, leaving her orphanage and seeing Natsume again. She couldn't deal with Natsume. Why had he left when he knew how lonely she would be? When he'd promised that they'd be together forever. What was the point in caring about someone if when they left, you felt worse than you did before you met them? Her mother and Natsume, they had both left her.

"Hey, are you all right, Mikan?" asked Misaki, concern in her eyes

"Yup." But she was quiet for the rest of the day, and when she finally closed her eyes to sleep in her unit, her mind was still wide awake.

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How was it? Good, bad? Please review :)

Disdisclaimer: I disclaim my previous disclaimer. I don't own Gakuen Alice or the associated characters.


	8. Falling Walls

Yes! an update that is not unreasonably late! I am proud to say that Drowning out the Echoes (Previously A Part of my World) has reached 100 reviews! Thank you to my 100th reviewer; comicworm!

**Thankyou very much to my reviewers (and there's so many more than last chapter :D)** :

Kylee-Cat

unknOwn - I'm sorry for the run-ons; unfortunately I'm the type of person who doesn't like short sentences, but I'll try to make my sentences less run-onish fromnow on

Amai Youkaiko

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jEzzy mISt-miSSy - I didn't even think of that, but it would be cool!

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_This chapter is dedicated to my reviewers, for helping me reach 100+ reviews_

* * *

**Drowning Out the Echoes**

Chapter 8

**Falling Walls**

Throughout the week, Mikan's special ability classes were the only things that kept her sane. Every morning during home-room classes she had to sit by Natsume's side and act as if he was just another person. It had become a habit for Mikan to move from her seat once Narumi left the room and talk to Hotaru for the rest of the session.

It was Friday, and everybody was excitedly planning for the weekends. Halfway through questioning Anna about the shops in Central Town, Mikan suddenly remembered that she'd left her school diary in the classroom.

As she walked back through the corridors, she suddenly noticed that hers weren't the only footsteps.

"Hyuuga-san, are you stalking me?" She asked, doing her best imitation of an irritated girl.

"So it's Hyuuga-san, is it?" his voice sent shivers up her spine "I thought we agreed that our last name would be Sakura."

"That...was a long time ago." Mikan started to walk off, but Natsume grabbed her arm.

"Why do you hate me? Just tell me what I did!"

"You left me!" Tears started to run down her cheeks. "You promised we'd always be together, and then you just left!" Recovering from her outburst, she roughly pulled back her arm, attempting to walk away. Natsume caged her against the nearest wall with his arms, an agonised look on his face.

"Let me go." said Mikan, turning her head so that she would look anywhere but at his eyes. She could feel his irregular breath on her cheek, so close...

"They told me you'd already been adopted. I thought you were the one who left." Mikan tried to open her mouth to reply, but couldn't think of anything to say. A part of her wanted to believe him, but an even larger part of her was warning her not to.

"Please" she choked "Please don't-"

"Mikan" he growled "Look at me, dammit!" She looked at him in shock and immediately regretted it. She had always known that once she saw those familiar eyes, she would never be able to look away. He moved his head forward until his forehead rested on hers. He was so close, she could've counted his eyelashes. She could feel his warmth, she could feel his heart beating. It was too familiar, she had to get away. Desperately she pushed back against the wall, as if hoping she would merge into it.

"W-wait-"

BOOM

When Mikan opened her eyes, she realized that she was still being pinned against the wall by Natsume. The only difference, in fact, was that they were now horizontal. Yes, horizontal as in parallel to the floor. She heard a coughing sound, and looked up to find an entire class staring at them with varying looks of shock, amusement and in some cases, mortification. Mikan hurriedly sat up, pushing away the just as surprised Natsume. Why had the wall fallen down? Was it someone's Alice? Maybe Natsume's...come to think of it, what was his Alice? Trying to look anywhere but at his face, Mikan's eyes travelled along the ground and paused at what appeared to be a sign stuck on the wall. 'Partition wall; do not lean on'

She tried to restrain it, but it leaked out anyway; a small laugh. Of all the walls to lean on, they had to choose the partition wall. She froze when Natsume reached up a hand and brushed away a stray strand of hair from her face. He was smiling at her, watching her animated face. His smile was beautiful.

"GET A ROOM!" shouted a boy from the back row.

"Fucking single stars. C'mon, Mikan." Mikan brought up her arm but hesitated before taking his helping hand. She started to retrieve it, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her up regardless. As soon as she had regained balance, Mikan snatched back her hand.

"Sorry, Hyuuga-san, but I have to go and find my diary."

"This diary?" asked Hyuuga, grinning as he waved about the small leather bound book.

"Give it back!"

"Say it."

"Say what?" asked Mikan. She gasped as Natsume pulled her close to him and whispered into her ear.

"Admit that you want to sleep with me." His voice was amused, almost playful. Mikan could feel it, bubbling up inside her.

"How dare you, you, you conceited piece of...of horse-radish!" Yes, her famous anger had been released. This could mean only one thing; she was about to make a massive fool of herself. "I'd rather sleep with a donkey before I even consider sleeping with you!"

"You're considering it now."

"No-o, I'm considering sleeping with a donk- wait no... Just give the fucking diary back! I'm sure it doesn't appreciate having your grubby little hands on it!"

"If you're serious about the donkey thing, I know someone who could help-"

"No, that was a bad example...ummm, I-I'd rather eat raw...uhh...raw hair...Anyways, you think you're so cool, but you're really just a perverted potato brain, stupid hentai! It's like karate versus french horn, and you're the french horn!" She gave Natsume a triumphant look as if her argument had not only made perfect sense, but had actually proved Natsume inferior. Her face fell when she noticed Natsume's shoulders shaking in silent laughter. She realised in that moment that Natsume hadn't wanted her to 'admit' that she wanted to sleep with him. He'd just wanted to make her angry. "You are insufferable!"

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"A detention in the first week for breaking a wall, disturbing an entire class and for comparing one of the hottest guys in school to a trumpet? You are going to go down in school history, Mikan, and not in a good way."

"French horn, actually, and he provoked me." said Mikan through gritted teeth. "Now can we please stop talking about this?"

It was Saturday, and Mikan was on the tram to central town. She was looking forward to the visit, but would've preferred it if Anna and Nonoko would shut up about the events of the previous day. The embarrassing story had spread throughout the school like wild fire, gaining momentum with each passing moment. Some people treated her with a strained disdain, others treated her like she was some sort of legend. She just wished everybody would forget about it, she didn't need more attention than she already had. Her thought were interrupted as the forest fell away, revealing the most beautiful town she had ever seen.

It was quaint, the architecture looked to be around 17th century. Puffs of smoke wafted up from small chimneys, pots of colourful flowers hung from curtained windows and wrought iron lampposts lined the paved roads. As the tram made its way down the main road, Mikan could see shops of all kinds, selling everything from food to furniture, with a multitude of items in between. At last the tram stopped out the front of a tower so tall that it seemed to disappear into the clouds, fading into nothing. As Mikan stepped off the tram, she was nearly bowled over by the colour, the noises, the exotic smells.

"This is the 5th district of central town" explained Nonoko. "It's the main commercial centre, and you can buy pretty much everything here. And this," she gestured up at the colossal tower "is the translucent tower. No one knows why, but it can amplify your Alice as you go up the levels. They use the upper levels mostly for long distance scrying and stuff like that. It's kinda weird becau-" She was cut off.

"Oh, stop boring her Ogasawara-san, I'm sure Mikan doesn't care." Katsutoshi had approached them while they had been distracted. He was looking coldly at Nonoko.

"Kuonji-san, excuse me; I didn't realise you were there. You're right, Mikan, let's go and see the shops." Nonoko grabbed Mikan's arm a bit too tightly and dragged her away, with Anna and Hotaru following behind.

"You should be careful around him." warned Nonoko

"I know."

"No, you don't. He's the son of the elementary school principal. He's just a puppet to that man, he's dangerous."

"The elementary school principal...how many principals are there?"

"Three," answered Hotaru, "Kuonji, the elementary school principal; Hī, the middle school principal and Yukihara, the high school principal. Kuonji is the one you should be wary of. You should under no circumstances catch his eye. His influence is almost as large as his ambition."

"Ah, here we are!" exclaimed Anna "This is the best lolly shop in town! You like candy, right Mikan?" But at that moment Mikan couldn't answer. She was too busy staring at the rows of spun sugar sculptures sitting in the windows. Inside there was an entire wall devoted to boiled sweets, a shelf loaded with every type of liquorice imaginable, barrels of sherbet (2 rabbits a bag), jars of special effects candy, a table laden with shortbread, and that was only skimming the surface. But that was nothing in contrast to the large silver fountain in the middle of the room. The water cascading down was luminous, glowing in the soft colours of the rainbow yet perfectly clear.

"That is the spectrum fountain. You know, the water isn't only the colours we can see, it's also the colours we can't see."

"Wow!" Mikan breathed softly.

"One day I want to be able to make a drink or food like that. Something that will make people happy when they eat it." said Anna smiling.

"You should, you have the cooking Alice, right? You could start up a restaurant."

"I can't. I have to take over my family's business, ERS. You know, the mining and oil company."

"Oh." Mikan surveyed Anna. She was still smiling, but there was something strained about that smile.

The afternoon found them lying on the lawns outside the central library, each sipping a bottle of spectrum water. Anna and Nonoko were animatedly chatting about a recipe, and Mikan was watching Hotaru oil the hinges of one of her many inventions, occasionally asking questions.

"Oi, Polka!" Mikan looked up as she heard Natsume's voice. "Catch." A white box flew straight at her and Mikan, panicking, only just managed to catch it.

"Hyuuga-san, I think you dropped your box." She said, keeping her voice as even as possible. Of course he didn't drop it, but she didn't want anything from him.

"Nup, it's for you, polka dots." he said as he walked off, leaving Mikan wondering about her new nickname.

"Whoa...how did he get his hands on these?" asked Nonoko in a hushed voice.

"Why what is it?" asked Anna, moving closer for a better look "Howalons? But these don't come into season for another few weeks!" Nonoko handed the box back to Mikan.

"They're a type of fruit made by an Alice. Try some, you'll like it." Mikan almost refused, but in the end decided to try one of the small, delicate, pink fruit. It was delicious. The outside felt so fluffy, and the inside so creamy. It tasted like no fruit she had ever tasted before.

"It's delicious!"

"Yup, that is a fruit that you can get nowhere else in the world. One of the many perks of being an Alice." said Anna grinning.

After she and her friends had finished the howalon, Mikan returned to pondering her new nickname

Polka-dots...polka-dots...polka-...!

"HYUUGA YOU PERVERTED BASTARD!" She yelled at no one in particular, unnerving a few innocent passer-bys.

When, in the evening, she finally returned to her apartment, she was still fuming. She tore the envelope she found on her table open, muttering obscenities under her breath. As she read what was written on the envelope, her temper finally cooled to be replaced with nervous anticipation. At last she had been summoned. She would finally learn what her Alice was.

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Your thoughts on the chapter? How do I improve if you don't speak up? Even a simple thing such as my run-on sentences, or incorrect use of grammar. By reviewing, you are helping me to improve my english marks ^.^


	9. Alice

The new chapter! I should be studying now, but I felt like writing :P

Thanks to my chapter 8 reviewers:

**icily-COOL**

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**HazZel and CriMson**

DISCLAIMER: I don not own Gakuen Alice or any associated characters (although it would be nice)

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Drowning Out the Echoes

Chapter 9

**Alice**

"Nullification…nullification…" Mikan rolled the word on her tongue, trying to find some familiarity in them. The principal watched her. "What exactly is it?" she asked.

"Nullification is the ability to cancel out other Alices. It's rather rare, but not unheard of. I believe that you may have a secondary Alice, but we will have to wait and see." Mikan didn't like the sound of the nullification Alice. It was an Alice that would only work against an enemy, and she didn't plan on making any of those.

"So that means I can only stop other people from using their Alice."

"Yes." Disappointment settled over Mikan. "But that's not the only thing I called you here for. Tell me, do you remember that time when you collapsed in this office?" Mikan nodded "Then what did you see?"

"A…a garden. But it was all wrong. Everything was too bright and colourful, it hurt my eyes. And there was a beautiful woman, but…she was all wrong too. She was scary. Do you know who she was?" Mikan watched the principal eagerly, hoping for some clue as to the identity of the woman.

"No." But he didn't meet her eyes. "You are dismissed, Mikan." As Mikan turned around to leave she heard him say in a voice so low she thought she might've imagined it "Be careful."

"So, Nullification, huh? That's a useful Alice."

"Are you sure, Hotaru? I mean, wouldn't it only be useful if I was fighting against another Alice? And stop stealing my chips!" Hotaru just rolled her eyes, the flow of chips from Mikan's plate to her mouth never wavering.

"Don't be so naïve. Conflict happens all the time in the Alice world, just like in the real world. The only difference is that in the real world the worst thing that can happen to you is death."

"So what's the worst thing that can happen to you in this world?" Mikan asked, curious. Hotaru just smiled widely, almost sinisterly.

"Do you really want to know?"

"I might not want to know after all…but there is something."

"Ask away, but just remember that it's a 10 hare fee for every question." Mikan _thought _she was joking.

"Why do people have Alices? Is it genetic?"

"In many cases Alices are inherited. But there are also cases in which people from non-Alice families are gifted with an Alice."

"And what about the first Alices?"

"Don't you know the legend?"

"What legend?" Hotaru just shook her head in a '_I can't believe she is this much of an idiot' _way.

"Roughly 400 years ago a man went deep into a stretch of woodland to investigate a strange light that he had seen. When he reached the source of the light he found a heavily pregnant young woman covered in blood. She went into labour, but died during childbirth, only telling the man that her name was Alice. The man cared for the daughter that Alice left behind, and at the same time frantically searched for the identity of the mother. Eventually he found out who she was. She was the only daughter of a noble family who had disappeared at 17 and had been proclaimed dead. But this wasn't the strangest thing. She hadn't been seen alive in 139 years. It was around this time that the people who lived nearby the woods started to notice strange things happening. They gained impossible powers, or skills that they had never practised. Eventually passing travellers noticed these strange happenings, and they began to talk of witchcraft. But when the witch hunters arrived to burn all of the villages and their residents, they found nothing. It was as if 3 villages had just disappeared overnight. Of course we know that it was probably just the Illusion Alice, but at that time the superstitious fools thought that the villages must have disappeared into the devils domain, and reported that those woods were cursed. For hundreds of years nobody dared to approach the woods, and eventually everybody began to forget about the villages. But the villages had thrived, calling their new powers 'Alices' and creating their city. In fact, it is in their city that we stand right now."

"It would make a great horror story, but it makes no sense. The witch hunts happened in Europe, not Japan." Hotaru looked surprised, and for a moment Mikan thought that maybe she had just outwitted her.

"Mikan, you don't honestly think that we're still in Japan? Haven't you noticed that the campus is bigger than Tokyo?"

"I don't get it."

"Dimensional Benders. Although you came in through Tokyo, the moment you passed through the front gate you were transported to this city in Europe."

"But then why is everyone speaking Japanese?" But the moment the words came out of Mikan's mouth she knew that they were wrong. Because no one was speaking Japanese, not even her.

"Once you enter the boundaries of this city, you automatically speak English. I'm surprised you didn't notice earlier" Mikan took a deep drink from her glass of orange juice.

"I feel stupid now."

"As you should." Mikan tried to hide her irritation by changing the subject.

"So what happened to that girl, Alice, during the hundred and something years she was gone? Shouldn't she have died of old age?"

"No one knows exactly, but it's likely that she was transported to an alternate world where time flowed differently. Many books have been published on the subject. You've probably read one of them, Alice in Wonderland. Trust the most ridiculous version to gain the most recognition." Hotaru's mutterings were interrupted by the ringing of the spire bells.

"Oh, I have class now, see ya Hotaru!" Mikan sped off. When she arrived at the special abilities 'classroom' she almost died of shock. All of her classmates were practising their Alice's, resulting in a deafening din and one of the most bizarre sights. One of the girls was spurting multi-coloured bubbles out of her nostrils as she laughed uncontrollably at a boy's jokes. A web of shadows spread out from Tsubasa as he tried to calm down a horde of angry Misakis (that's plural of Misaki) while a young girl swung from the highest beam by a thin thread. All this while there was the sound of a loud fog horn coming from a senior's mouth. It was like a war zone.

"So you must be Mikan!" The adult had to raise his voice even though they were standing next to each other. "I'm the special abilities class supervisor, Nodacchi! As you can see, everyone's practising their Alices! I hear that you have the nullification Alice, so it would be good training for you to try to release yourself from Tsubasa's shadow bind!" Mikan nodded to show that she understood, and scaled one of the ladders to approach Tsubasa, who was currently being beaten up by many Misakis. She waited for Misaki to finish before relaying Nodacchi's instructions. He nodded and stretched out his shadow to hers. Suddenly everything was frozen, she couldn't move even a fraction of a millimetre. Being frozen felt like falling endlessly. She hated it yet she was helpless. Defenceless. Weak.

"That's enough for today." Said Nodacchi. Mikan finally felt herself released. She realized that the hour must've already passed.

"Don't worry, Mikan! You'll get better!" Smiled Misaki. Mikan nodded but felt inadequate. Everybody else in the class had used their Alices perfectly. She was deep in thought as she walked back to her unit.

"POLKA!" Mikan was jolted out of her reverie.

"Hyuuga. Do you _enjoy_ following me?"

"Got a problem with it?" He asked. "And why are you in such a bad mood?"

"You wouldn't understand." Mikan increased her pace, hoping to lose him.

"Really, despite the fact that I know you better than anyone in the world, I somehow won't understand you?"

"You _knew _me. Note the use of past tense. I'm different now."

"Just tell me. It won't matter if I don't understand, right?" Mikan stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face him, annoyance evident on her face.

"Fine, I don't know how to use my own Alice. Now what can you do? Nothing."

"Mikan, you can use your Alice."

"No I can't, I couldn't even move a millimetre when Tsubasa used his Alice on me!" shouted Mikan, throwing her books on the ground and pulling at her hair. Natsume grabbed her wrists to stop her.

"You can use it, you always used to use it on me when we were in the orphanage."

"That's impossible; I think I would know if I was using nullification." said Mikan whilst trying to wrench her arms from his hands.

"You did! I could never use my Alice around you, even though I'd used it plenty of times before." Mikan stopped struggling.

"Really?" She asked. Natsume nodded. "Then could you use your Alice now?"

Natsume released Mikan and took a few steps back. Mikan gasped when she saw his hand burst into flames. It was frightening, and it gave her the most horrible feeling; as if Natsume's life was burning up with that flame. It disappeared once Natsume noticed the horrified look on Mikan's face.

"Natsume…don't ever do that again." Mikan said, her face pale and fingers trembling.

"Fine." He said. But he wouldn't meet Mikan's eyes.

"Alright, I'm going back to my unit, don't follow me! It'd be creepy if you knew where I lived.

"I can find out anytime I want."

"Creep. I'm leaving now." She started to walk back, and when she looked over her shoulder he was gone.

* * *

Well, there it is! Review because it will take you under 30 seconds, and because you love this story (crosses fingers)

Wish me luck in exams ^^ and thanks for reading!


	10. Prying

I owe everyone a big apology for dissapearing for a few months, I'm really, really sorry; unfortunately I'm susceptible to writer's block, and although I do try to stave it off by writing serveral fanfics at a time, it still does get to me T.T

I will try to update more regularly but for the reasons above, no promises...but I will promise at least one chapter a year -.-"

ooookaay...this one I'll dedicate to the readers, with a special emphasis on the reviewers ^^

Thank you very much to my Reviewers:

**anim3gurl**

**DamageReport**

**Xxdarkness-angelxX**

**lalalalasha**

**Fallen-Angel-RM**

**akadabra-kaching**

**Violet spirit**

**Animechicki**

-Thanks for the really long review, I think you've got a lot of great ideas but unfortunately I've already got the plot for this all planned out :( But you should use them in your new fanfic, I'm going to read it right after I finish uploading this!

**Rika Yume**

**Comicworm**

**Kazu-neko**

**CrimsonxHazel**

**Chronos Conspiracy CK **-I know, I know, I took ages to update, but please don't murder me (on knees begging, with puppy dog eyes and all)

**moonacre99**

**bunnyjumps**

**azngirl97**

**astrid **-sorry the Izuma/Azumi thing was a typo, I'll go back and fix it one day...

**Coo27**

It's been awhile since I've written, so the writing style may be slightly weird at the start, and to get over my writers block I started to turn this into a mystery...oh well.

* * *

**Drowning Out the Echoes**

_Chapter 10_

Mikan was fuming at her ears as she walked down the corridors. Narumi was finally back from a week of 'school business' and she had been looking forward to squeezing certain information from him. Yet when she walked into homeroom the class was, as usual, being supervised by a cowering Fukutan. After listening to Mikan rage for ten minutes, Hotaru finally gave up on reading her technical manual in peace and slammed the book shut. "If you want to talk to him that much then just go to his office." she said before walking past the meekly protesting Fukutan and leaving the classroom. This seemed to be a sign to all of the students because they all followed suit with varying degrees of hesitation. Mikan gave the teacher a quick glance before leaving the room to find Narumi's office.

Later she would say that all she had to do to find his office was follow the trail of florid perfume, but in actuality she wondered around for half an hour before swallowing her pride and asking a passer-by.

Despite her efforts, when she finally found herself knocking on the surprisingly sensible door, no one answered. she tried the handle and, upon finding it unlocked, cracked the door open an inch and peeked inside. It looked, with the exception of a few garish pieces of stationary, like a normal office. Papers scattered over the wooden desk, a few pens resting in an old mug, a half empty glass of water; nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps it was because of this ordinariness that Mikan found herself stepping into the office and closing the door behind her. She walked over to the desk and began to inspect the photos propped up at the back. They were standard school photos, featuring Narumi and whatever class had been unfortunate enough to get him. Impersonal, clinical. She quickly glanced towards the door before rummaging through the draws. She knew it was unlikely, but if there was even a small chance she could find out about her mother, she would take it.

As she rummaged through his belongings, she tried to classify each draw: a draw for stationary, a draw for handouts and lesson plans, a draw devoted to makeup and earrings, a draw with future class tests (this one tempted Mikan, but she was strong in her resolve), and a draw filled with sparkling blue wool (?). She pulled open the last draw and her eyes narrowed. There was a small photo in a frame lying on top of a stack of documents. She picked up the photo and closely examined it. A woman was smiling, looking adoringly up at someone to her left who had his arm around her. Mikan couldn't see who it was; the photo had been folded in half to fit it in the frame, or perhaps the frame had been specially selected to omit the object of the woman's adoration. Mikan gave a growl of frustration before flipping the frame over to remove the backing. As she unfolded the photo she gave the completed scene a cursory glance before reading the cursive writing on the back.

_Dear Naru,_

_I'm sorry for not getting in touch earlier; it's difficult with the old man sniffing around, but I just had to tell you: I'm pregnant! We spent all night arguing over what we'll call our baby, we decided Minoru if it's a boy and Mikan if it's a girl._

Mikan froze. She quickly flipped the creased photo around and stared at the couple who she now believed to be her parents. She could see how she resembled them, but no matter how hard she tried she could not remember them. If it weren't for the writing on the back, the people in the photo would have been strangers. She shrugged, once again flipped over the photo and skimmed through the rest of the short letter. She found nothing of importance. No names, no places, it was strangely cryptic. Mikan gave her parents one last look before sliding the photo back into the frame and setting it aside to inspect the documents. She picked up the one on top of the pile and started to read.

_Anjo,_

_In regard to your request, I do not believe it is possible to reverse the decision. The Department of Family Issues has made it clear that they believe Eito Azumi's claim for the guardianship of Mikan Azumi to be legitimate. Although, as you correctly pointed out, Kazu Yukihira is also a close relation and therefore a possible candidate for guardianship of said girl, there is, as of yet, no proof that Izumi Yukihira and Yuka Azumi_

"I didn't think you were the type to sneak around." said a voice from behind her. For one horrifying moment Mikan thought Narumi had caught her, but the wave of relief that had swelled when she realised it wasn't broke upon recognising the voice.

"Katsutoshi, I'm not...th-the door was open so I thought I could find..." stumbled Mikan desperately blacking his view to messily replace the contents of the draw. On an impulse she stuffed the document she had been reading deep into her pocket before continuing her excuse. "I thought I could find next week's class test, because I'm not very good at general ability tests and stuff." Mikan lowered her head as if ashamed.

"Oh, they're in the top drawer, and while you're at it, pass me the mid-year on Hamlet." Mikan's mouth dropped open, it sounded like he did this all the time. He caught her look and grinned.

"Me and-" he faltered before starting again "I used to do this all the time, but then Narumi caught me and put an Alice lock on his door. But your nullification took care of that so I'm just taking advantage of the opportunity." he said. Mikan shrugged before retrieving his requested document, and, just to fool him (or so she told herself) the upcoming test Narumi had promised.

"Thanks, and, just a heads up, you should put that drawer you were looking through when I came in back the way it was; he'll notice." Mikan knew then that he knew that she was not here for the class test. She watched as the door shut behind him and as she listened to the sound of the cheerful tune he was whistling fade down the corridor, she wondered if he was an enemy or an ally, or neither.

Slowly she began to tidy up the drawer, all the time mulling over the letter that was now in her pocket. Something about disputed guardianship, and relatives she had that she'd never known she had. She gave the picture of her mother one last look before gently placing it on the stack of paper and closing the drawer. There was something strange going on, and Mikan would not rest until she figured out what.

* * *

Sorry for any typos, I hate proofreading my work so...and it's a bit short, but I didn't want to drag the chapter on just for the sake of making it longer. And there's no Natsum T.T trust me, I'm just as distressed as you are.

REVIEW! (please)


	11. Raised Stakes

Okay, I would apologise, but I realise that any apology I make will be so ridiculously inadequate , so I think I'll skip it for now and go straight to my excuses T.T

I am in my final year of high school and I did just finish my last midyear exam yesterday (It was three hours long!)

But still, I will, as ever, strive to be better...

Okay, Reviewers!

**Mandy xx**

**stars-dream18**

**pwenie**

**bunnyjumps**

**Chronos Conspiracy CK**

**moonacre99**

**Kylee-Cat**

Thanks as always to all of the reviewers, who take the time to provide feedback! Here is the next chapter ^_^

* * *

Drowning Out the Echoes

XI

~Raised Stakes~

When Mikan was safely back in her room she took the crumpled document out of her pocket and smoothed it out over the kitchen bench.

_Anjo,_

_In regard to your request, I do not believe it is possible to reverse the decision. The Department of Family Issues has made it clear that they believe Eito Azumi's claim for the guardianship of Mikan Azumi to be legitimate. __Although, as you correctly pointed out, Kazu Yukihira is also a close relation and therefore a possible candidate for guardianship of said girl, there is, as of yet, no proof that Izumi Yukihira and Yuka Azumi were in any form of a legally binding relationship. In a case such as this, custody will, by default, go to the mother, or, in the case of the mother's passing, the mother's remaining family._

_If you find the decision reached to be undesirable, I suggest you lodge a formal complaint with the relevant department._

_-T.M _

Mikan read over the letter twice, coming to the same conclusion each time; she had at least two remaining relatives, one, Eito Azumi, who wanted to adopt her. Kazu Yukihira...someone related to her father, someone who Narumi wanted to adopt her. She pondered why Narumi seemed so set against Eito Azumi adopting her. And why had she not been aware of any relatives until now? Why had Eito Azumi waited until now to attempt to adopt her?

Her mind briefly considered the letter her mother had sent Narumi. It had seemed cryptic, almost as if she was afraid to mention too much. Was it possible that they were in hiding? And there was that mention of an old man sniffing around, barely a sentence long. And if Mikan's mother knew Narumi, did that mean she had an Alice too?

There were too many questions, and no answers in sight. She needed more information...

* * *

"What is it?" snapped an irritable Hotaru through a half closed door. Whoaa, Mikan hadn't been expecting such a fierce reaction. "I'm in a bad mood right now." This was apparently as close to an apology for being irritable as the dark haired girl was prepared to give.

"Umm, it's fine. I just wanted to know something. If I needed to find out about some people, where should I go?" asked Mikan, realising that she should get to the point as she was _not_ being invited in off the balcony.

Hotaru paused briefly to think before answering. "The intranet, probably. Though your unit wouldn't have been connected yet."

"Does yours have it?" Hotaru nodded hesitantly. "Then can I use yours?"

"No." Mikan grimaced at the absoluteness of the denial. Then a small smile spread across her face.

"Hotaru...are you sure? I mean..." Mikan slowly reached into her pocket and withdrew the small gold 1 rabbit coin. "I was just thinking of giving you this..."

"Mikan." Hotaru's expression didn't change, "Do I look like a beggar to you?"

"Okay, I'll admit I was a bit of a long shot but..." Mikan assumed her very best 'I'm a puppy dog feed me' expression. It wasn't entirely appropriate for the situation, but it would suffice. Hotaru rolled her eyes before stepping aside and letting Mikan in.

"Way to make me feel like a puppy kicker." she muttered as Mikan flounced past her.

"How do you use this thing, Hotaru. Oh, is this the on button? Why isn't it...Stupid thing!" Hotaru couldn't stand Mikan's rough manhandling of her precious technology and pulled Mikan away from the desk before sitting at it.

"Who was it you wanted to find out about?" asked a clearly irritated Hotaru. Mikan's face brightened.

"Oh, you'll do it for me? I wanted to know about Eito Azumi and Kazu Yukihira...and Yuka Azumi and Izumi Yukihira too." Hotaru's fingers paused over the projected keyboard.

"Kazu Yukihira? You've met him. He's the High School Principal." Mikan's mouth dropped open. Hotaru smirked. "You are such an idiot."

"The _High School Principal..._" Mikan was mouthing to herself in disbelief. It was a moment before she recovered. "And Izumi Yukihira?" Hotaru shrugged, rapidly typing and hitting enter.

"He was a student here, and judging by age he could be the principal's younger brother, but that's all there is on him." Mikan scowled.

"Eito and Yuka Azumi?" As Hotaru typed Mikan looked over her shoulder. Mikan growled in frustration when it turned up blank for Eito. Hotaru brought up a new tab for Yuka, but her search yielded no results either. "This _sucks_, right, Hotaru?" Hotaru was silent, considering the blank search results. Abruptly she brought up a program, coderay v.5.1.

"I knew it. Someone's restricting the access." Hotaru sounded neatly smug. "Well, of course it was unnatural for nothing to come up in a search. Usually at least a few sites show, even if they only have a few letters in common with the input."

"Sorry, but what?" asked Mikan. Hotaru sighed.

"This is what happens when you try explaining something to an idiot. The point is that the information is there somewhere, we just have to dig a little deeper to get to it."

"Oh...that's great then!" Hotaru began to roll her eyes, but stop, realising that she had been rolling her eyes a few times too many recently.

"Come on, we're going."

"Huh, where?"

"_Answers_."

* * *

Mikan found herself in a part of the school she had never been to before. A tall brick apartment building rose up before her, uniforms hanging on lines on the small balconies.

"Welcome to the single star accommodation." The contrast between the building before her and her own unit in the upper quarters rendered Mikan speechless for a moment. Whereas her unit looked like something that would be featured in a real estate magazine, this looked like some kind of public housing complex. Hotaru noticed the look on Mikan's face. "What did you expect? They're scholarship students; the school pays for their tuition fees, uniform, books, living costs and," she gestured towards the bare building, "housing costs." Mikan nodded her head slowly, and followed Hotaru into the building.

The interior of the building seemed to be kept reasonably clean, considering the heavy usage that was evident in the long lines of students at the elevators.

"Why are they all staring at us?" asked Mikan, nervously eyes the chattering groups of single star students. Hotaru motioned to the badge on her uniform, a golden star in a circle.

"Because we're in a totally different class to them." Mikan's eyebrows rose at the underlying snobbery of the statement; she herself had been in a class even lower that this not too long ago, but thought she could forgive it, considering it was Hotaru who delivered it. As they entered the elevator, Mikan marvelled at the effect that badge had on people; it was almost as if there was a bubble surrounding them, two metres wide, that no one would dare invade.

"Here we are." said Hotaru, sharply rapping on an innocuous wooden door halfway down a corridor lined with door exactly like it. After a moment the door was jerkily opened by a boy who looked to be around seventeen. A look of mild distaste graced his somewhat western features.

"You." was evidently his idea of a greeting.

"Were you going to let us in?" asked Hotaru clippingly. The boy reluctantly moved away from the door, retreating into his dark dorm room.

Mikan looked curiously at the young boy with dark hair in a state of disarray. He hadn't bothered changing after class, and the uniform itself was more wrinkled that a ninety year old.

"Imai. Your dog's staring."

"I'm not paying you to make witty comments about who I do or don't choose to bring along with me." the boy shrugged at this. Between the two, Mikan couldn't tell who was more nonchalant. Hotaru motioned to the boy. "Mikan meet Wolfgang. Wolfgang, meet Mikan."

"Wolfie." corrected the boy.

"Wolfgang." replied Hotaru pointedly.

"Fucking bitch." He muttered under his breath, before sauntering away to a computer in the corner of his room. "What did you want this time?" he called out.

"Restricted information on a certain Eito Azumi and Yuka Azumi."

"Give me ten minutes, in the meantime..." he waved his hand lazily, as if to say 'make yourselves at home', but with a fraction of the effort.

"Who is he?" Mikan whispered in Hotaru's ear. Hotaru didn't even try to lower her voice when she replied.

"He has the Cyber-Network Alice. If the information's there he'll find it." Mikan watched his fingers move rapidly over the keyboard and was impressed at his absolute concentration. She took the opportunity to observe the room. It was a frugal room, with a generic wooden table on one side and the desk at which Wolfie was sitting at on the other side. Two doors led farther into his living quarters, one presumably leading to his bedroom and the other to a bathroom of some sort. Remnants of afternoon light peeked out from under one door, probably the bedroom. For free school housing, it was actually pretty decent. Hotaru had a mild look of distaste on her face. A curse from the corner of the room brought Mikan's attention back to Wolfie. The speed at which his fingers danced over the keyboard had multiplied and seemed almost frantic. Hotaru moved over and looked over his shoulder.

"What's go-" started Mikan, but she was silenced by a quick shush from Hotaru. Mikan, curious, moved to see what was happening on the screen. She almost gasped when she saw the impossible darkness of the computer screen, like a black tunnel into darkness, filled with miniscule flashing ones and zeros that seemed to rearrange themselves every time she blinked. Wolfie's typing seemed to falter for an instant, before resuming faster than ever.

"Hotaru," he said, eyes still focused on the screen, "the plug." Hotaru's eyes darkened for a moment before she knelt down and wrenched the plug out of the power supply. Without a moment's hesitation Wolfie grabbed the computer modem, threw it on the ground, and put his foot through it. Hotaru moved in with an electrically charged probe her bangle had twisted into and jabbed it into the hole Wolfie's foot had made, turning the unfortunate modem into a torrent of white sparks so bright they left purple marks in Mikan's vision.

As Mikan watched Wolfie and Hotaru rapidly destroy the computer, there was only one word going through her head; overkill.

"Put it in the oven." Hotaru suggested once she deemed it sufficiently smashed up.

"I don't _have _an oven," he said through gritted teeth as he turned the taps in the bathroom on at full power, "we're not all as rich as _Miss Privileged_. Help me get this shit into the bath."

When the twisted, smashed, burnt, melted remains of the computer were sitting in five inches of water, Mikan felt that would be the end of it, but Hotaru decided the stick her probe into the water for good measure.

Panting heavily, Wolfie dusted his hands clean. Hotaru stared at the sediment in the bottom of the bath that was once a computer.

"You owe me a new computer." she commented.

"_You _owe me a new computer."

"I've already given you a computer."

"And where is it now thanks to _someone's _stupid request." Hotaru grinned sheepishly.

"I guess it was a bit of a long shot. Mikan; your request, your fault. You owe Wolfgang a new computer."

"I _hate _my name." muttered Wolfie. Mikan was still watching the sediment in the bathtub in disbelief.

She finally swallowed her shock and asked the obvious question. "Why did you destroy it?" Hotaru and Wolfie exchanged glances.

"My hack was detected." explained Wolfie. "That was some security system; if we hadn't destroyed the comp as quickly as we did, the trace would have got me."

"Mikan." barked Hotaru. "When we get back to the upper quarters you're going to tell me exactly why you need to find out about Eito and Yuka Azumi. That was dangerous; if the trace had reached us Wolfgang could've died."

* * *

How was it? I know, no Natsume in this chapter either. This story seems to be turning more and more into a mystery...maybe I just can't bring myself to write a full on romance?

I get bored easily (she says, as if that explains away all her inadequacies)

Review?


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